R. Richter. The New Institutional Economics — Its Start, Its Meaning, Its Prospects
V.4, N1, 2006
This article first describes the history of the use of the term «new institutional economics» (NIE) from the time it was introduced by Oliver Williamson. It shows how the term has evolved from a generic to a standard term on the basis of NIE conference issues and collective volumes which appeared between 1984 and 1997. In 1997 the International Society for New Institutional Economics was founded. Ronald Coase, Douglass North and Oliver Williamson were the driving forces of this development. In the second part of this article, the meaning of the NIE is outlined following the basic concepts of Williamson and North. The ideas of these two protagonists are compared with each other and their better known criticisms are described and assessed. The final part of the article deals with possibilities of broadening and deepening the objectives and analytic style of the NIE. The article concludes with the observation that the potentialities of the NIE are by far not exhausted. (original paper)